One Nation One Ration Card scheme will be launched as a pilot project in four States — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — from August 1. This means those having ration cards will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in these four States, so long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar.
The Modi Government is expected to implement the 'One Nation One Ration Card' scheme across the country from July 1, 2020. Under the scheme, the ration card holders would be able to buy subsidised foodgrains from ration shops in any part of the country. Delhi had also begun implementing portability, though it was later stopped for technical reasons.
Sources in the Ministry of Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said that the scheme will be launched at the meeting of food ministers of all states on August 1. The state governments have been asked to use point of sale (PoS) machines in the ration shops and implement the scheme.
Issues such as the shop not being open, long queues and ill-treatment by dealers have been reported from all over the country.
"As many as 10 States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura — already offer this portability. Other States, including Himachal Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, could easily implement the scheme, as they had PoS machines in all the ration shops," said officials.
Officials said that one of the agenda of the food ministers meeting is to roll out a pilot project in 15 districts to fortify rice grains with iron, folic acid, Vitamin A and Vitamin B12 to reduce nutrition deficiencies among beneficiaries.
The scheme will enable migrant workers obtain their monthly PDS entitlements from any ration shop. This will also reduce the dependency of beneficiaries on a single ration shop.